The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Plain Tales from the Hills by Rudyard Kipling: marigold-heads, dust-bank, and fragments of broken soap-dish into
confusion past all hope of mending. Next morning I came upon
Muhammad Din crying softly to himself over the ruin I had wrought.
Some one had cruelly told him that the Sahib was very angry with him
for spoiling the garden, and had scattered his rubbish using bad
language the while. Muhammad Din labored for an hour at effacing
every trace of the dust-bank and pottery fragments, and it was with
a tearful apologetic face that he said, "Talaam Tahib," when I came
home from the office. A hasty inquiry resulted in Imam Din
informing Muhammad Din that by my singular favor he was permitted to
disport himself as he pleased. Whereat the child took heart and
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from The Brother of Daphne by Dornford Yates: She turned to me with a maddening smile and opened her mouth.
Then she changed her mind and raised her eyebrows instead.
"This isn't fair," I said. "You can't ride with the herring and
run with the beagles too."
But she would not tell me. Neither would she let me give her
lunch.
"But the telegram," said I desperately. "You might let me- "
"I don't suppose you have tea, but if you do happen to be in St.
James's Street about a quarter to five... "
That afternoon she showed me the wire. It was as follows:
"Thousand apologies housekeeper's sudden illness detained me just
The Brother of Daphne |